Posted by Michael Dorosh from Canada on May 20, 2021 at 23:39:43:
In Reply to: Re: I think you overplay... posted by Victor on May 20, 2021 at 20:02:30:
I'm sorry your stomach is turned by our "nice" image - but I'd rather have that image than the American image of a loud mouth throwing his weight around. Go to Europe with a maple leaf flag on your jacket and see how well you're treated. Then try it without the maple leaf and tell people you're from Texas.
Image indeed.
Personally, I take pride in our achievements as peacekeepers. I hope we never have to fight another war - I do think we need to be prepared to do it, and I hate what the liberals have done to our Army.
But I'm also glad to serve in a force where my rights and dignity are considered important. Yes it's gone too far in some cases - paying for a sex change operation, for example, while medical problems suffered due to service in Kosovo or the Gulf go untreated. But overall it's a good direction to go.
Lumped in with all the other indignities the Army has had to face, its hard not to look at any kind of change - even good change - without suspicion.
If the Army was 100,000 men strong, with state of the art battle tanks, APCs and a strong viable reserve force, it would be easier to swallow some of the other "initiatives" such as SHARP training. As it stands, it just looks like the brass is trying to cover themselves in the wake of scandals like Somalia or a few women in the Forces who have been mistreated. And of course, that is what the brass is doing. But surely it's still a good idea to promote understanding among your troops and take a hard stand against racism - preventing another Somalia-like murder is not only in the general's interests, but all of our interest.